Just a Dream
by Freedom's Call
Summary: Ron goes away to war, and Hermione can't believe it. Only thing I own is the plot. So no suing!


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the song Just a Dream. If I did I wouldn't be doing this.

_**"Just A Dream"**___

It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen  
All dressed in white  
Going to the church that night  
She had his box of letters in the passenger seat  
Sixpence in a shoe, something borrowed, something blue

Hermione was nervous. She kept wondering if this was real or a dream. She had waited for this day, her wedding day, her whole life. Now that it was here it felt like a fairy tale. Everything was perfect, perfect place, perfect dress, perfect love. Yet one thing wasn't perfect.

_  
And when the church doors opened up wide  
She put her veil down  
Trying to hide the tears_

_Oh she just couldn't believe it  
She heard trumpets from the military band  
And the flowers fell out of her hand_

A wizarding war had been started between England and Asia. And Ron had been drafted. They had promised each other forever. Now she wasn't so sure that was what she was going to get. She was glad that Ginny, her Maid of Honor, had decided to give her a moment alone before she had to walk down the aisle, so she wouldn't have to worry about the tears streaming down her cheeks.

_  
Baby why'd you leave me  
Why'd you have to go?  
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know  
I can't even breathe  
It's like I'm looking from a distance  
Standing in the background  
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now_

_This can't be happening to me  
This is just a dream  
_

When she got the letter with the ministry crest her first reaction was panic. Yet she was so afraid, she couldn't open it. So it sat there on the mantle beside his picture for a day. And another. And another. Soon it had been a week. And the letter still sat there, mocking her, calling her weak for not opening it yet.

Finally she couldn't take it. She grabbed the letter and with a furious intensity and tore it open and unfolded the letter, all of a sudden frantic to read what it said.

_No._

_  
The preacher man said let us bow our heads and pray  
Lord please lift his soul, and heal this hurt  
Then the congregation all stood up and sang the saddest song that she ever heard  
Then they handed her a folded up flag  
And she held on to all she had left of him  
Oh, and what could have been  
And then the guns rang one last shot  
And it felt like a bullet in her heart_

She dug through her closet, looking for a dress she hadn't worn in years. The dress she had worn to Fred's funeral. She pulled it on numbly, trying not to think about how much she missed him and the fact that she would never see him again. She went to the fireplace in the kitchen, the only one without photos on it and floo'd to the Burrow without thinking. She was met by all of Ron's family, everyone staring at her sadly, knowing but not understanding her pain. How could they? They had only lost a brother or a son. They hadn't lost the love of their life, their best friend … their husband.

_Baby why'd you_ _leave me  
Why'd you have to go?  
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know  
I can't even breathe  
It's like I'm looking from a distance  
Standing in the background  
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now  
This can't be happening to me  
This is just a dream_

Hermione sobbed the moment she got through the door to their flat. She sunk to the floor in the kitchen wondering why she let him go. The Ministry didn't draft men if their wives were pregnant, why hadn't she lied and told them she was? He'd still be here if she had.

_Oh,  
Baby why'd you leave me  
Why'd you have to go?  
I was counting on forever, now I'll never know  
Oh, now I'll never know  
It's like I'm looking from a distance  
Standing in the background  
Everybody's saying, he's not coming home now  
This can't_ _be happening to me  
This is just a dream_

All of a sudden anger flooded over her. He let himself get drafted! She shouldn't be left here alone. It was his entire fault. Her senses took leave as she stormed into their living room and began to take down every picture of him from the mantle, throwing them onto the ground, not caring about the breaking glass. She did the same in every room in their flat before collapsing in the bed they shared, sobbing yet again. How could this have happened? This wasn't supposed to happen! They had only been married six months; they had only gotten three weeks together, their honeymoon and the week before he left.

_Oh, this is just a dream  
Just a dream  
Yeah, Yeah_

Hermione gasped as she awoke, expecting to feel Ron's warmth beside her before she remembered what had happened. But she did hear something. Someone was in their flat. She could hear the person's footsteps crunching over the broken glass in the living room, then down the hall.

She jumped to her feet wand at the ready trying to act as brave as she wished she was… As Ron was…

She took in a deep breath as their bedroom door opened. She was completely unprepared for what she saw. It was Ron, standing there in his uniform, perfectly fine. Her first reaction was anger, assuming this was George or someone trying to prank her and make her feel better for a small while. "George! Stop it." 'Ron' seemed surprised to be addressed like that and looked as if he was about to speak but she cut him off. "This isn't funny." Tears slipped down her cheeks as she continued, "Thanks for wanting me to feel better, but it won't work. We both know he's gone; we were both at the funeral, please… Just come back when your polyjuice has worn off."

"Hermione…" She was surprised to hear Ron's voice come from him. "What are you talking about? It's me. Why would I be George, and why would I be using polyjuice? And whose funeral, 'Mione?"

With that she knew it was Ron. It had to be. She ran to him wrapping her arms around him and started to sob. After a few minutes she pulled away and whispered in a voice hoarse from all the crying she had been doing lately, "Yours." She showed him the letter that said he had been presumed killed.

He softly told her that he was here. He had been captured by the enemy and managed to get away. He ended up getting honorable discharge when it was found that he had picked up an incurable disease while in the enemy camp.

"What disease?" She asked nervously, not wanting to get him back to lose him to a disease just after she got him back.

"They don't know what it is called, but it causes vision problems that aren't good for soldiers." He could see Hermione's relief as he swept her into his arms holding her tight and whispering, "I'm not gonna leave you Hermione. Ever. Forget that period when I was away. It was just a dream. Just a bad dream."

_This is just a dream_


End file.
